The StraightDope Kitchen Brigade has never let me down.
My grandmother gave me a low-pressure cooker last Christmas. It’s like a pressure cooker, but somehow not, because I can remove the lid in the middle of cooking and add ingredients.
So far I’ve used it with varying degrees of success in place of my slow-cooker. I’ve made split pea soup twice and both times kind of burned the stuff on the bottom of the pot but I have no idea why (should I be stirring it?) Last week I made a pretty good pork loin roast with cabbage and apples in 1 hour, but I would love to know how to get the meat more tender. Is the tenderness of the meat just a function of time, or temperature, or something else?
Tomorrow night I would like to make this recipe. I’m having a guest over and I don’t want to screw it up. I was thinking of throwing something else in there too, like apples or carrots.
So specific question: How should I do this recipe?
General question: How do I adapt slow cooker recipes to the low pressure cooker? How about regular pressure cooker recipes?
The breaking down of the meat is a function of time and temp like you said, but pressure can be a part of the equation if you have a pressure cooker. I don’t know what a low pressure cooker is aside from just a reguar pot. Can you link to the device?
Also, the pork loin is not a good gauge of the effectiveness as it is pretty damned tender in its own right. I’m trying to figure out a low pressure cooker from a scientific bent as I am by trade/education a food scientist but am coming up empty. Some help?
The other thing I can think of is that you want the meat to be pulled tender. A pork loin does not have enough fat to get there. I would never cook a pork loin 6 hours it is a waste as far as the expense of the cut and the long cooking time. The loin is very lean and would benefit from a searing and roasting in the oven until it reaches temp. Current USDA standard is 140F. It should eat more like filet than braised meat. A loin will just get rubbery and tough with increased cooking time. If you want the falling apart stlye of tender maybe try a pork shoulder or picnic cut with the same seasonings for that length of time. You should get closer to what you’re looking for.
Following the advice of America’s Test Kitchen, I braise my roasts before slow cooking them. Something about locking in moisture rather than bathing in moisture. Works fabulously. Ultra tender, very flavourful.
Braising is in liquid by definition. Also a loin does not equal a roast. Maybe you meant searing then roasting? Even then, searing does not lock in moisture it just gives you the malliard reaction which is indeed tasty. Resting meat after roasting is the way to ensure that it is as full of moisture as is possible.
This. IME, a lot of people overcook pork tenderloin to rid it of the dread Trichonosis, but as mentioned above, even the USDA says that’s not necessary anymore. The less you cook it, the more tender it will be (within reason), just like how steak gets tough if you cook it well-done, but a brisket prefers long cooking time.
Pressure is part of the equation in a closed pot, too. For most people this is probably most relevant to cooking rice. It’s just that most pots are “very-low-pressure cookers” because their lids will start leaking relatively quickly, so it isn’t a big factor. A very heavy, close-fitting lid that is not opened will create a pressure effect discernible in cooking times and absorption.
Each time you open the lid on this device, you’re letting the pressure out–defeating the difference–as well. Doing this and maintaining the higher heat does sound like a good way to burn things.